The Time To Make A Change Is Now

Welcome to my blog! I am Mommy Malfatti. I am married to Daddy Malfatti and we have three Malfatti kidlets: Mr 19, Miss 3, and Miss 2. We also have 2 cats. 2015 marks a major change in the Malfatti household: I am changing careers! I have felt for many years that being a Stay/Work At Home Mommy would be the best career choice and during the next few months I will be transitioning from working outside the home to staying home with my kids! Along with this change comes a move. We will be moving closer to family! Yay! So excited!! Join me while I downsize, declutter, and donate many belongings in preparation for our upcoming move. Create with me as we sew, make spa products, and craft with our kids. Become a world-renowned chef with me as we cook up a storm (or at least try some new recipes and expand that collection). Let's Treasure the Time we have!

Shakeology Cleanse Day 1

This morning I woke up and knew...knew I was going to be doing a lot of drinking today. Water and Shakeology that is. Geez, what were YOU thinking? I'm starting a cleanse...everyone should do this once in awhile. Some call it a fast. I'm calling it a way to make sure I am below 160 on the scale when I weigh in for the PRT. Okay, first things first. Drank a cup of green tea, lovingly made by my husband. Then, I went downstairs, poured a cup of water and a cup of ice into my blender, added a packet of Strawberry Shakeology, and turned it on. Ummm....several minutes later, the blender was still whirring and the ice...was still whole. So, I stirred and shook and tried to force the blender to blend and chop the ice. Eventually, I gave up. Scooped out all the ice cubes and added them to a cup of water (so I wouldn't waste the god Shakeology all over them), then added that cup of water to the blender and blended everything again. Needless to say, what was supposed to be an 10ozshake became a 20oz shake. Took me over an hour to drink it all. I've also consumed another 8oz water so far (it's 1:27pm) and am about to go make a chocolate Shake and run to the store for some almonds and salad fixings! Yum! BTW, maybe TMI, but I've peed 6 times so far (and I've only been awake 4 hours). 3:00pm Went to commissary. Even though I brought my chocolate Shakeology with me (made the RIGHT way this time), I was so hungry! Anyway, I grabbed salad mix, apples, bananas (mostly for my kids...they're little monkeys!), a grapefruit, almonds, chicken, fish, and a California roll. "E" was hungry, so I broke open the roll as soon as we got to the car and gave her a piece. I strapped her in her car seat, then loaded the groceries. "Mommy...more please." I gave her a piece and gave myself one too. It's natural...fresh made too. The chef was standing there rolling them as I picked one out. Rice, Nori, Avocado, Crab. YUM! When we got home, I hear again "Mommy, more please", so I gave her another piece, and myself one more. I have to stop. I'm so hungry though. So, when we walked in the door, I grabbed a bottle of water and chugged 1/2 of it right away. After doing the mom thing (diaper changes and snack time), I opened the bag of almonds, scooped out 1/2 cup, and started chowing down. 4:53pm 1/4 cup almonds and another bottle of water down. Still have dinner (salad, fish), 2 bottles of water minimum, and a Shake to go. 6:00pm Made dinner....ate 2 bowls (about 2 cups) of mixed greens with just a touch of vinaigrette dressing, a piece of catfish (baked), and because I was told I could add things to the salad, I added carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower to dinner (only I steamed them instead of eating them completely raw. I ate too much! I didn't expect that considering how hungry I was. I still have 1/4 cup almonds left and I didn't eat any fruit today. 9:25pm I'm drinking my last shake now. I am not going to eat any more almonds or any fruit. I don't know how I'm going to get a bottle of water in me before falling asleep, but I'm going to try. Final thoughts on Day 1 of the Shakeology cleanse....Overall, this was very difficult. I slept in so my time schedule was messed up. I really missed not going for a walk or a real workout, but I was busy all day and barely sat down. Washed all sorts of laundry, dishes, and picked up a ton of toys. Danced with the girls and made a dozen trips up and down the stairs today. I couldn't keep this up for long if I wanted to. Drinking this much liquid and not eating often is crazy hard! I'll be so glad after my weigh in on Wednesday when I can eat again...healthy foods yes, but still be able to eat more. Good night!

So much has changed!

WOW! It's been five months since I last posted...that's how busy my life got since I had the baby, and returned to work. EmiJo is now 8 months old and I am pregnant again. I got interrupted, again, and it's taken me 22 days to finish this post. I had the first three sentences written, and then just put it aside.

I have decided to TRY and blog daily or at least 4 times per week. Not writing things down only contributes my forgetfulness of things my daughter does. She is just 11 days shy of 9 months. She stands, cruises, crawls, claps her hands, feeds herself Gerber Puffs, plays by herself but still wants to play with Mommy and Daddy. She loves kisses from the dog, hugs from her older brother, and chasing the kitty down the hall.

So, now that I've said all that, let's rest for tonight and get started tomorrow. Another busy Saturday as we have to drive our oldest to an Orienteering event an hour and a half away. Write more later!

3/14/2011

6:43 AM That's what time my darling little girl FINALLY fell asleep, pressed against my chest...the bare part that my tank top didn't cover any more because she wrapped her tiny little fist around the edge, right in the middle, and pulled it down to my belly button. Her sweet little face, pressed against the bare part of my chest, had an open mouth from which drool poured like Niagra Falls. When I finally dared to move her to the car-seat so I could take Chaz to school, the suction grip sounding it's release was so loud I thought she would wake up. Luckily, she kept on dozing and only fussed for a moment when I was adjusting her safety straps. A quick rock rock rock of the carrier and off we went to the car. After dropping off my older, grouchy, teenager, I raced to Starbucks like they were running out of espresso and ordered a Grande Iced Caramel Macchiato with an extra shot and a Veggie Artisan Sandwich. Yummy! I quickly slurped most of that drink, wishing I had ordered a Venti instead and arrived home with my darling pumpkin head still asleep.

I released the car seat from it's base, locked up the car, unlocked the house, and deposited it (baby and all) in the bathroom where I turned on the hot water and started filling the tub. She was going to get steamed in hopes that it would help clear her chronic nasal congestion and I was going to get a hot, hopefully, relaxing bath. No one barging in or knocking on the other side of the door to inform me that now, just as I've sunk in to water up to my ears, now they have to go to the bathroom. No one crying (hopefully) because they're just fed belly is suddenly empty due to a large poop filling her, just moments ago dry, diaper. No gypsy punk or hard rock music in the background (Nick calms EmiJo with this music. Weird, eh?) No cat vying for my attention. No chores. Nothing, but peace, quiet, and a little baby's snores nearby.

I forgot, if i don't leave the door unlatched, the cat will "knock" incessantly thinking he's missing out on something far greater than everything else going on outside the bathroom. So, I unlatch the door and sink back down into the water, grab my magazine, and finally I can relax.

It was probably the most relaxing bath, and productive as I actually got to wash my hair AND shave my legs this time, that I've had in awhile. I take baths often, but mostly to try and warm my feet and relax my leg muscles. I have a chair massager for my back, that I rarely use cuz it's placed in a weird spot in the house, but there's no room for it elsewhere, but I don't have any way, other than manual massage, to relax my legs. Besides, it's the best way to get my breast milk flowing for my daughter. Any time I bathe before feeding her, she seems to drown in Mommy milk and she USUALLY sleeps for a few hours. Not that I can sleep then, but I try most nights to lay down too.

Better take advantage of the remaining moments of quiet in the house. Nick's asleep (after staying up until 5:30am trying to get EmiJo to sleep), Chaz is at school for a few more hours, the cat is staring out the window from his cat tower perch, and the baby is currently resting. A load of diapers is on it's first wash (one more to go) and I really want to try and plan some meals around the food in the house. I keep trying this and one day, I will be successful at it. Or I'll give up and hire a chef.

TTFN (ta ta for now)

Finally......

Finally.....I get to sit down, with my laptop actually in my lap, and type a new entry. Of course, this time may not last much longer as I already took a nice, hot bath...which I fell asleep in. I'm exhausted!

I don't remember being this tired all the time after my son was born 15 1/2 years ago. I must have been, but I was only 21 so was used to long days, short nights, and little sleep. At least, that's the only reason I can come up with.

EmiJo is such a sweet, mostly happy, little angel. She is constantly hungry when awake, and sleeps hard when she sleeps, which is mostly during the day. We were up until 1:30 before she finally crashed. When she woke up a few hours later, with frozen fingers and forearms (they were not covered by the blanket and she had pushed the sleeves up), I put her next to me for two reasons...1) to warm her up and 2) to nurse her. It's becoming a little easier to nurse her since I started taking Reglan and drinking Mother's Milk tea...both of which I should do right now. As I said though, this time to write may not last long. Besides, I have a loving husband who will be more than happy to get both for me when I ask him.

EmiJo has grown so much since I last wrote and I'm not talking physically. That's happened too, but she is now SMILING!!! I got my first real smile on March 3rd. I immediately wrote on my Facebook wall: "EmiJo smiles now...real smiles not gassy smiles. She started a couple days ago, but they were fleeting. Today she has smiled at me whenever I smiled at her...which is whenever I'm near her. :~}"

Then on March 8 "EmiJo just did her 1st real raspberry! Stuck her tongue out & raspberried her mommy! Haha"

Early complicated mouth movements, such as raspberries, are supposed to mean she will talk early. Isn't that great! Whatever....I don't care about that stuff, I just think it's cute when she does raspberries. Pretty soon she'll do them on her own or only with a little coaxing. Right now, they're still fleeting movements.

She does blow bubbles a lot. Not just little ones either. She looks like she's chewing gum, then bubbles start to pour out of her mouth. It's like she's teething early. Doc says it's just reflux. She has to take Zantac to keep most of her food down. Then there's mornings like today when she nursed for only a few minutes and blech...all over my chest. ICK!

Chaz is as accepting as he can be having an infant in the house. He gets a little upset when he's trying to watch TV and she starts to cry, but we have DVR and the show can be paused, rewound, or recorded so it's not a major upset.

Speaking of Chaz and infants...I'm fairly certain this experience is teaching him the consequences of sex. Can't say that he won't be tempted or won't do it, but at least he knows exactly what awaits him if/when he does start.

Nick just walked in and asked if I was going to write about the songs I sing for her. So, I guess I will. She seems to like my voice, just like her brother did, and so I sing. I try to sing traditional lullabies like Lullaby, & good night, but usually end up changing most of the words because I can't remember the traditional words. I also sing made up songs. Last night I sang a song that included the words Mommy's not tired, no she's not. Daddy's not tired, no he's not. Baby she's tired, yes she is. Go to sleep little baby go to sleep. I sang that over and over and over again until she finally fell asleep. Took about 100 repetitions and more than half an hour, but she eventually gave in.

She responds differently to Mommy and Daddy too. If Daddy has her it's hard rock, gypsy punk, or anything with a steady beat that's about the speed of a heart beating when you're climbing a hill. When I have her, it's me singing while thumping her back (like I'm burping her). Usually, this can be accomplished while I'm sitting in my glider, but once in awhile, I have to stand and walk around or bounce while swaying back and forth. If none of my tactics work to calm her down (and she's not wet, poopy, hungry, cold, hot, or wearing something uncomfortable), I pass her off to Daddy and he calms her down. When he can't calm her, he passes her off to me. We are a team.

Life with a teenager and an infant has it's own challenges that only others experiencing the same thing can understand.

Well, time to clip coupons, make menu plans, and finish the laundry. A mom's job is never done. But it's all worth it!

2/20/11----A day of screaming---for Daddy

EmiJo is a fuss bucket...at times. Today, I took Chaz to the theater to watch a sneak preview of Hall Pass (funny movie...I recommend you see it too). We left the house at approximately 3:00pm and didn't return home until approximately 7:30. When the movie was over, I called Nick to see how they were doing. Seems she didn't give him very much time to take care of things (like making dessert, putting away laundry, or even just sitting down)! Our little fuss bucket screamed any time Daddy put her down and cried even when he was holding her.

When I got home, we changed her diaper and I took her to give him a break. She nursed for a few minutes and promptly fell asleep. I held her for another 10 minutes or so, to make sure she was really asleep and not just closing her eyes (she tricks us often), then I laid her down in the bassinet, and she's been resting since then. It's been an hour and a half and she's still resting.

Time to get off the computer, and start putting away that laundry!

2/18/11 Four Weeks Old

Today Emily is 4 weeks old. 4 weeks ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. A baby girl with a full head of black hair, expressive eyes, perfect hands and feet, and cries that wake the dead. She is demanding and very capable of informing us what she needs. We don't make many mistakes interpreting her cries, and when we do...she tolerates it...for a second, then she starts crying again. She is also very expressive. She smiles a lot, but she also scrunches her face when something bothers her. For instance, when her diaper needs changed, she scrunches her face real tight...then SCREAMS!!!!! When she's hungry, her lower lip quivers and she does a wah wah wah WWAAAHHHH cry. She also starts rooting immediately when I pick her up and hold her to my chest.

She loves her carseat! As long as she's not hungry or in need of a diaper change, her carseat is the one place we can put her to calm her enough to sleep...at least for a little bit, but trust me...15 minutes of rest is wonderful.

My milk still hasn't come in fully so the lactation consultant advised me to start drinking a cup or two of Mother's Milk tea every day and take three doses of Fenugreek every day. I'm really hoping this increases my milk supply. The breast reduction may have caused permanent low milk supply, but there is a chance my milk supply will increase with the use of these two products. If not, then she'll prescribe a medication to help increase it. If that doesn't work, then back to work I go.

It's frustrating being home and not being able to provide my daughter will all the nutrition she needs. I'm stressed out and because of that, I could be affecting my milk supply without realizing it. So...natural methods first, then chemical. ONE of them will work!!

All this writing about milk has caused me to feel  a sudden tingling. It's time to prepare for nursing my beautiful baby girl.